Sales Director
HOW TO BECOME A SALES DIRECTOR IN THE SPORTS INDUSTRY
Trade is a fast-growing industry. Although globalization has considerably expanded the customer base of most business sectors, competition remains fierce. This is where sales directors and their teams come in.
What is the sports market?
In 2017, the sports market was worth 38.1 billion euros in France alone. A steadily rising figure over the past 20 years. The prosperity of the sports economy is a boon not only for sports equipment manufacturers and specialist retailers, but also for all sports-related businesses. The industry employed around 200,000 people in 2015, according to the French Ministry of Sports’ figures. To further develop this market and increase sales, companies rely on their sales director in particular.
What are the duties of a sales director?
The sales director role mixes business, marketing and management duties. This role consists in defining a targeted commercial strategy to develop their company’s market, and, as a result increase its sales figures. To achieve this, they work in close partnership with other departments in the company. Typically, the marketing director, financial director or HR and communication departments.
This perpetual dialogue is key for defining a sales policy while adjusting the existing sales strategy where needed. The role encompasses various missions designed to maximize the company’s profitability: finding new customers, launching new products and services, improving customer experience, building loyalty with existing customers, etc.
Finding new customers, for instance, first requires a clear definition of the brand’s target audience. Depending on the sport in question, the company’s customer base may be cross-generational, young or older. Conversely, if market and competition analyses point to the need to conquer a new market, services and products offered will have to be evolved.
Sales directors may work for major sports equipment manufacturers, specialist retailers, sports federations or clubs, the media and for any company dealing with the sports industry.
Every one of their commercial endeavors is meant to help them meet their goals. To this end, they employ a combination of methods. Such methods include: implementing sales tools (i.e., CRM) coupled with prospecting, i.e., looking for new customers, establishing budgets and sales forecasts or analyzing sales data from market and competition surveys. A case in point in the sports industry is the mutual monitoring of Adidas and Nike. All these methods serve to better guide their sales teams using precise recommendations, challenges or prospecting advice, or to develop new sales techniques. In addition to monitoring and encouraging their teams, sales directors must recruit them.
Their employer also expects them to come up with new product suggestions to maintain a leading position or to attract new customers. They must monitor the competition while trying to outdo it and keeping customers satisfied, as they are the best ambassadors of the product or brand.
The sales director role requires excellent command of sales and marketing, as well as managerial skills and good knowledge of the sports industry. This applies to both customer and team relations, in view of optimizing sales performance.
Key qualities and skills required of a sales director
The versatility of the sales director role calls for several assets. While they are essential skills, a flair for sales negotiation and business strategy skills are not enough to make candidates a perfect fit for the position. They must also demonstrate:
- Strong leadership skills for optimized team management. To reach their objectives, a team should be motivated
- Diligence and organization skills to find the right balance between initiative and meeting sales targets
- Some technical sales skills in their field of business, because heading a department requires perfect knowledge of sales techniques, customers and product offering
- Solid insight into the industry, in this case the sports industry, to stay on top of the latest trends, keep abreast of customer expectations and monitor the competition
Salary range and career prospects.
Salaries in the sales sector are typically highly variable due to a number of factors, such as company size. Sports non-profits, for instance, will not have the same salary budget as multinational corporations.
Typically, gross monthly remuneration includes a fixed component and target-based commissions. Sales directors are no exception and can expect a gross monthly salary between €4,000 and €20,000.
In terms of career prospects, they can aspire to the position of CEO or general manager of the company that employs them or open their own business development consultancy. In the latter capacity, they could work with sports equipment manufacturers, for example. However, large corporations prefer to create in-house positions. Having a sales director on site means they can react directly to incidents and continuously monitor their sales activity.
What are the qualifications required to become a sales director in the sports industry?
There is no specific qualification for the position of sales manager. In fact, this position is more closely linked to solid experience (6 to 10 years) in the target business sector than to the studies undertaken.
In the sports world, being head of sales for a company like Puma requires a solid background in managing the various situations and challenges that arise. Few juniors can fill this position. However, higher education is required to acquire a theoretical grounding.
A 5-year degree in business can be obtained at a business school. Specialized sports marketing is another path that opens doors for graduates. It is advisable to opt for a Programme Grande Ecole Sport Management or a specialized International Sport Management Program.
It’s ideal to choose a course that offers the possibility of international experience, and fluency in another language will be a real asset. It’s also advisable to opt for a course that allows students to spend several months in the field, where they gain initial professional experience that will help them find their feet in the world of business, and lay the foundations of their network, essential for success as a sales manager.
In 2017, the sports market was worth 38.1 billion euros in France alone. A steadily rising figure over the past 20 years. The prosperity of the sports economy is a boon not only for sports equipment manufacturers and specialist retailers, but also for all sports-related businesses. The industry employed around 200,000 people in 2015, according to the French Ministry of Sports’ figures. To further develop this market and increase sales, companies rely on their sales director in particular.
The sales director role mixes business, marketing and management duties. This role consists in defining a targeted commercial strategy to develop their company’s market, and, as a result increase its sales figures. To achieve this, they work in close partnership with other departments in the company. Typically, the marketing director, financial director or HR and communication departments.
This perpetual dialogue is key for defining a sales policy while adjusting the existing sales strategy where needed. The role encompasses various missions designed to maximize the company’s profitability: finding new customers, launching new products and services, improving customer experience, building loyalty with existing customers, etc.
Finding new customers, for instance, first requires a clear definition of the brand’s target audience. Depending on the sport in question, the company’s customer base may be cross-generational, young or older. Conversely, if market and competition analyses point to the need to conquer a new market, services and products offered will have to be evolved.
Sales directors may work for major sports equipment manufacturers, specialist retailers, sports federations or clubs, the media and for any company dealing with the sports industry.
Every one of their commercial endeavors is meant to help them meet their goals. To this end, they employ a combination of methods. Such methods include: implementing sales tools (i.e., CRM) coupled with prospecting, i.e., looking for new customers, establishing budgets and sales forecasts or analyzing sales data from market and competition surveys. A case in point in the sports industry is the mutual monitoring of Adidas and Nike. All these methods serve to better guide their sales teams using precise recommendations, challenges or prospecting advice, or to develop new sales techniques. In addition to monitoring and encouraging their teams, sales directors must recruit them.
Their employer also expects them to come up with new product suggestions to maintain a leading position or to attract new customers. They must monitor the competition while trying to outdo it and keeping customers satisfied, as they are the best ambassadors of the product or brand.
The sales director role requires excellent command of sales and marketing, as well as managerial skills and good knowledge of the sports industry. This applies to both customer and team relations, in view of optimizing sales performance.
The versatility of the sales director role calls for several assets. While they are essential skills, a flair for sales negotiation and business strategy skills are not enough to make candidates a perfect fit for the position. They must also demonstrate:
- Strong leadership skills for optimized team management. To reach their objectives, a team should be motivated
- Diligence and organization skills to find the right balance between initiative and meeting sales targets
- Some technical sales skills in their field of business, because heading a department requires perfect knowledge of sales techniques, customers and product offering
- Solid insight into the industry, in this case the sports industry, to stay on top of the latest trends, keep abreast of customer expectations and monitor the competition
Salaries in the sales sector are typically highly variable due to a number of factors, such as company size. Sports non-profits, for instance, will not have the same salary budget as multinational corporations.
Typically, gross monthly remuneration includes a fixed component and target-based commissions. Sales directors are no exception and can expect a gross monthly salary between €4,000 and €20,000.
In terms of career prospects, they can aspire to the position of CEO or general manager of the company that employs them or open their own business development consultancy. In the latter capacity, they could work with sports equipment manufacturers, for example. However, large corporations prefer to create in-house positions. Having a sales director on site means they can react directly to incidents and continuously monitor their sales activity.
There is no specific qualification for the position of sales manager. In fact, this position is more closely linked to solid experience (6 to 10 years) in the target business sector than to the studies undertaken.
In the sports world, being head of sales for a company like Puma requires a solid background in managing the various situations and challenges that arise. Few juniors can fill this position. However, higher education is required to acquire a theoretical grounding.
A 5-year degree in business can be obtained at a business school. Specialized sports marketing is another path that opens doors for graduates. It is advisable to opt for a Programme Grande Ecole Sport Management or a specialized International Sport Management Program.
It’s ideal to choose a course that offers the possibility of international experience, and fluency in another language will be a real asset. It’s also advisable to opt for a course that allows students to spend several months in the field, where they gain initial professional experience that will help them find their feet in the world of business, and lay the foundations of their network, essential for success as a sales manager.
